Sleeve applicators



March 5, 1957 K. DUKS SLEEVE APPLICATORS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 6, 1954 INVENTOR.

KARLIS DU K5 March 5, 195 7 K. DUKS 2,783,813

SLEEVE APPLICATORS Filed Jan. 6, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR. .KARLIS DUKS BY (2241:), AM pLy/m/ K. DUKS SLEEVE APPLICATORS March 5, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 6. 1954 INVENTOR.

--KAR LIS IDUKS United States Patent SLEEVE APPLICATORS Karlis Duks, Harrisburg, Pa., assignor to Aircraft-Marine Products, Inc., Harrisburg, Pa.

Application January 6, 1954, Serial No. 402,580

3 Claims. (Cl. 153-4) This invention relates to a machine for applying coverings to an insert and the process used therein, and more particularly to a machine which selects a covering, places it in proper relation to the insert and then fastens the covering to the insert. In the particular embodiment selected for purposes of illustration the insert takes the form of a female electrical connector receptacle and the covering takes the form of an insulating sleeve.

Previously, in large part, the coverings were placed about the inserts manually and then fastened. This was awkward and time consuming, especially since it was often necessary to use both hands to operate a fastening device, leaving no hands to hold the covering and insert. The manual operation became almost impossible when the covering had to be in an exact relationship to the insert during fastening. An even more difiicult hand operation existed when not only the covering and insert had to be in an exact relationship but also the fastening had to be done in a certain place on the covering. This invention is incorporated in a machine that selects a covering from a group, positions the covering in precise relationship to the insert, and fastens the two at desired place. The coverings do not have to be manually fed to the machine. Neither do the inserts have to be manually fed, although one modification described hereinafter is designed for manual feed of the inserts. This invention resides in a completely automatic machine, requiring only that containers be filled with the inserts and the coverings from time to time. An object of this invention is to overcome the disadvantages of previous apparatus for and methods .of applying coverings to inserts. Other objects and advantages will be in part pointed out as the description proceeds and will in part become apparent therefrom.

A specific embodiment of this invention is a machine that applies a right circular cylindrical sleeve to an electrical eonnection which includes an electrical connector fastened, or crimped, to an electrical conductor. machine selects a sleeve from a hopper and causes the sleeve to enter a tube which conducts the sleeve to a platform where a slide ram pushes the sleeve to a crimping anvil. The slide ram retracts, an electrical connector is inserted into the sleeve (the connector may be selected from a hopper and placed in position by means similar to those used for the sleeves), a die comes down to crimp the sleeve onto the connector and as it does, a recessed plunger and slotted cylinder position the sleeve and electrical connector in proper relation to the descending die.

While the specific embodiment of this invention involves manually feeding a connector to the sleeve, the principles of this invention could be incorporated into a machine that makes the connection. An example of such incorporation would be a machine which in one step fastens a connector onto a conductor and in a second step fastens a sleeve onto the connection thus formed.

For a more complete description of one particular embodiment of my invention, reference will be had to the drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a portion of a vibrator, the tube, the

This

2,783,813 Patented Mar. 5 "1957 'ice upper die assembly including the recessed plunger and slotted cylinder assembly, the slide ram and part of the slide ram solenoid, the latch and several sleeves.

Figure 2 shows the sleeve and electrical connection before crimping and the combination after crimping.

Figure 3 shows an enlarged sectional view, partially cut away, of the slide ram and latch assembly with a sleeve about to be positioned in a groove.

Figure 4 shows a front view of the upper die assembly, a driving and supporting means for the upper die assembly and a Microswitch which operates the solenoid.

Figure 5 shows a close up of the Microswitch.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary prospective view illustrating on an enlarged scale the details of the portion of the applicator defining the feeding and crimping regions, certain parts being omitted for purpose of clarity.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken generally along the longitudinal axis of the slotted cylinder and the crimping dies for the purpose of illustrating the relationship therewith of a sleeve and sleeve insert disposed in crimping position.

The machine of this invention automatically takes one sleeve at .a time from a large group of sleeves, positions the sleeve in'an application region where an electrical connector may be inserted, and crimps the sleeve onto an inserted connector. A sleeve 21 is crimped to an electrical connection 22 resulting in a crimped combination 23. Sleeve 21 is made of plastic and lined partly with metal but the sleeve may have any of several compositions. The purpose of the present sleeve is to insulate and protect electrical connection 22.

In the crimped combination the electrical connection insert is precisely placed with respect to the sleeve.

Metal liner 24 gives holding qualities to the sleeve while the plastic covering offers insulation which reduces corrosion and facilitates placing of connection on electrically charged leads without shock.

The sleeves are poured into a container, not shown, and a selector, in this case a vibrating ramp, causes the sleeves to fall into tube 27 with the flared end of the sleeve last to enter. The tube .directs the sleeve to groove 30 on platform face 31 of lower supporting block 32. Plate 34 prevents the sleeve from continuing its journey beyond groove .30. A large transparent plastic sheet 33 is attached by stud 70 to the machine. This sheet protects the operator from moving .parts yet allows him to detect any trouble, Opening 29 is in the sheet to allow insertion of the connection into the crimping region. The sleeve can only enter groove .30 when slide ram 35 is in its fully retracted posi- -.tion see Figure 1), Slide ram 35 is retracted by solenoid .37 which is activated by Microswitch 39 show'nin Figures 4 and 5. Disc 40 is attached to drive shaft 41 which raises and lowers upper die assembly 43 and is revolved by an electric motor. The position of disc 40 controls the position of lever 44 which in turn closes and opens Microswitch 39. When lever 44 is in notch 45, as shown in Figure 7, the Microswitch is opened and solenoid 37 is not activated, releasing slide bar 35 to return under the influence of spring 46.

When the solenoid has pulled slide bar 35 across groove 30, thereby freeing the end of tube 27, a sleeve enters groove 30 and is stopped by plate 34. As the length of groove 30 is approximately the length of a sleeve, the next sleeve in the tube does not enter groove 30. When the slide bar is released by the solenoid, it is drawn by spring 46 across platform 31 forcing the sleeve from groove 30 to groove 36. As the slide bar passes the tube opening, it slices the tube in groove 30 from any sleeves that may be stacked behind it in the tube. The side of the slide bar then prevents any other sleeves from entering groove 30. As the sleeve is pushed along platform 31, it comes into contact with latch 50, which rotates about pin 51 and is acted upon by spring 52. Compression in spring 52 is adjusted by set screw 53. The spring exerts an up-. ward force on the rear endof latch 50, which causes the forward end of the latch to exert a downward force on the sleeve as'it is being pushed toward groove 36. This steadies the sleeve and insures that once it reaches groove 36 it will not go further and will be positioned for the insertion of the connector. After slide bar 35 has pushed the sleeve to groove 36, the solenoid is activated and pulls slide bar 35 back to slice off another sleeve.

Once the sleeve has entered groove 36, a connector may be inserted. A plunger shaft 62 having a camming surface 72 along one side edge is fixed to the upper die assembly. The free end portion of plunger 62 is received in slot 69 of a cylinder 63 mounted for reciprocatory movement along the line of groove 36.. As upper die 55 descends, plunger 62 descends and, by virtue of camming ledge 72 engaging wall 74 defining one end of slot 69, forces slotted cylinder 63 towards the sleeve. To the slotted cylinder 63 is attached a positioning cylinder 64 having a beveled end 68 which fits inside the sleeve .when plunger 62 has descended. The sleeve, as best shown in Figure 7, fits against the surface of the bevel and the connection fits against the end of the positioning cylinder. The connection and sleeve are thus positioned inproper relation tov each other and to upper die 55, ready for the die to press the sleeve onto the electrical connection. Upper die 55 is fastened to block 56, shown in Figure 4, which is supported by shaft .41 which is turned by an electric motor. As shaft 41 revolves, a reciprocating motion is imparted to block 56' due to the offset in the center of the shaft. The shaft is supported by metal columns 60 and 61.

As the die assembly rises, plunger 62 rises and the slotted cylinder, pulled by spring 65, follows the recessed edge of plunger 62, freeing groove 36 for another sleeve to be pushed there by sliding ram 35. I In this embodiment of my invention, the operator starts a cycle by pressing a foot pedal 67 which causes shaft 41 to make one complete revolution. The Microswitch is opened at the end of each cycle just as upper die 55 is being raised from the crimping operation. Therefore a sleeve is positioned in groove 36 just before the cycle is completed, and before he starts the next cycle ,the operator has time to place an insert into the sleeve. It will be understood that a particular embodiment of ,thelinvention has been illustrated for purposes of explanation, but it should be apparent that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim: 1. In a sleeve applicator construction, the combination including: sleeve-crimping means incorporating a crimping region in which a sleeve may be applied to a sleeve insert, power means disposed to actuate said sleeve-crimping means toperform a sleeve applying operation upon a ,sleeve positioned within said region, a sleeve guiding organization defining a sleeve passageway leading from a supply of sleeves and communicating with said crimping region, a sleeve positioner coupled to said power means and movable thereby into said crimping region and engageable with one end of a sleeve therein to locate the sleeve accurately in crimping position, and a feeding assembly associated with said passageway and timed in the applicator operational cycle for delivering sleeves one at a time to said crimping region after operation in said cycle of said crimping means.

2. In a sleeve applicator construction, the combination including: sleeve-crimping means incorporating a crimping region in which a sleeve may be applied to a sleeve insert, power means disposed to actuate said sleeve-crimping reans to perform a sleeve applying operation upon a sleeve positioned within said region, a feeding assembly for delivering sleeves one at a time to said crimping region and a sleeve and insert positioner coupled to said power means and moveable thereby into said crimping region, said positioner including a cylindrical beveled end portion adapted to engage and extend partially into the sleeve in said crimping region for accurately locating the sleeve in crimping position and defining the limit of insertion of an insert within the sleeve.

3. In a sleeve applicator construction for crimping a sleeve on a sleeve insert disposed therein, a crimping zone, a feeding zone adjacent to and communicating with said crimping zone, sleeve guiding means including a sleeve passageway leading from a supply of sleeves to said feeding zone, a feed assembly operative to transfer the lead sleeve from the supply to said crimping zone, a sleeve depressor latch arranged yieldingly to bear on the lead sleeve when in said crimping zone, a sleeve and insert positioning member adapted to be moved into engagement with and at least partially into the lead sleeve accurately to locate the sleeve in crimping position in said crimping zone and to define the limit of insertion of the insert into the sleeve, and sleeve-crimping means adapted to crimp the sleeve on the insert upon locating thereof in crimping position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

